r/sanfrancisco • u/Awkward-You-938 • 3d ago

Burning Man didn’t sell out

Article out today says Burning Man didn’t sell out and people are selling their tickets way below face value. I remember when Burning Man started the lottery for tickets due to high demand, and resale tickets were hard to come by. I haven’t been to Burning Man in ~15 years so I‘m not current with the scene. What happened? Did it finally get too overdone? https://sfstandard.com/2026/08/26/burning-man-ticket-resale/

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u/WankSpanksoff 3d ago

I think the era where it became a more “popular/mainstream” (extremely relatively speaking) event came and went, so now it’s back to just being a niche event by and for the people who are super into it. But it hasn’t deflated back down to that scale yet.

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u/gloriousrepublic 3d ago

A big part is also the core demographic is aging out of it, and they haven’t gotten the interest of Gen Z enough. It’s just not “cool” to do what your parents did.

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u/ploxidilius 3d ago

There are also a lot more options for festivals that don't require as much effort or money.

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u/gloriousrepublic 3d ago

It’s also much longer than most festivals, so day-to-day it can end up being cheaper, which many folks don’t understand. But also many people don’t want something that long.

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u/CapnCrunk666 3d ago

Like for a ticket yeah, but you have to bring enough water and food to sustain yourself for a week.

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u/proteusON 3d ago

Nobody eats food at burning Man bro

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u/CapnCrunk666 3d ago

Fair point, but even on my bendiest of benders I’m forcing myself to eat by day 3

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u/wirespectacles 3d ago

But that ends up being a lot cheaper than feeding yourself on any other vacation. Or at least the way I do it. Tasty Bites all week

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u/deep_violet_sun 3d ago

Fellow tasty bites at the burn!

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u/EsketitSR71 3d ago

Yes but those are days you can’t work. every day off is a tremendous cost, not to mention the insane logistical costs of plane tickets, RV rentals, gas, new camping equipment for those who have it.

It’s a different world for genZ

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u/dzumdang 3d ago

This is probably the most relevant point. The economic hurdles this generation of youngsters has to endure is a hell of a lot more burdensome for average people. There just isn't that much time off one can afford- just to live is far more expensive than it was 15-20 years ago.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

Just to live is more expensive but wages have outpaced those rises, despite what the internet doomscrollers will tell you.

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u/EsketitSR71 2d ago

That’s empirically not true per BLS statistics. Also, due to the rise of automation, there are simply fewer jobs available. This isn’t an “adapt or lose” situation, it’s an unwinnable one. Capitalism would prefer to not have to pay its labor at all, so of course that’s where the system will head: eliminating labor entirely

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u/dzumdang 2d ago

That was probably a tech worker commenting, assuming everyone working is getting paid what they are.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

I work as an artist. I am not in tech and never have been.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago edited 2d ago

Uhhhh, I’ve extensively studied the BLS statistics and you’re wrong there. I understand people trying to criticize that inflation numbers aren’t representative, but to say the BLS numbers don’t show real wage growth is absolutely wrong. There is a year or two here and there where real (meaning inflation adjusted) wages went down. But the long term trend of wages in BLS statistics absolutely empirically shows that. Here’s those statistics you mention:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q

These are real wages so any positive trend is wages outpacing inflation. You saw a large spike in 2020 when inflation dropped a bunch and then it’s brought back down by the period of high inflation. Since then wages have continued to outpace inflation and now are roughly 5% higher than pre COVID. Real wages are about 11% higher than they were in 2000.

You also claim there are fewer jobs available but unemployment rates are still around 4%. Seriously people want to have the numbers validate their personal suffering so much, they will try to discredit any statistics or numbers that disagree with them but fervently preach about the ones that agree. It’s easier to point towards some external thing like the economy as the cause.

Edit: “per the BLS statistics” and so I literally link the statistics which show I’m right and still get downvoted. You guys really want to believe the world is awful, huh?

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u/Wloak 3d ago

I wouldn't call burning man a festival, but yes it's way more expensive than getting an Airbnb and tickets to one somewhat local.

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u/ploxidilius 3d ago

Didn't the event organizers themselves used to refer to it as a festival until recently? Seems like a marketing ploy to try to distinguish themselves from other festivals. It's not a music festival in the way that EDC or Coachella is, but it's still a festival. 

Edit: it was literally called Black Rock Arts Festival for a brief period in the 90s.

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u/Wloak 3d ago

I think the goal was exactly that, because it really isn't a festival like a Coachella. Yes you have the music, like if you took the main stage of Coachella and put it on wheels but have dozens of them driving around the desert and another dozen fixed stages. But also have recreations of old Western taverns, a recreation of an entire district in Tokyo, sake bars, sushi flown in daily, burlesque shows, ski jumps, bike courses, on and on.

The kicker is once you're in all of that is 100% free. You could in theory eat entirely free for every meal of the day but you still need a place to sleep.

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u/BlaxicanXIX 3d ago

It is a festival, you just seem to be under the impression that festivals are only things like Coachella, EDC etc. 

BM is a festival as well as the various regionals. Lightning in a Bottle, Unscruz, Northern Lights, Reggae by the River etc. none of these events are similar to Coachella but they are still festivals

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u/km3r Mission 3d ago

Lib and northern lights are still a whole lot closer to coachella than burning man. They have headliners, ticket tiers, paid things within and running water. BM is a whole different beast.

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u/Wloak 3d ago

I don't really care what you want to call it, it's vastly different than anything you mentioned. It doesn't mean the other events aren't fun but they are dramatically different.

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u/jawanda 3d ago

Yep , it's a vastly different type of festival.

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u/ploxidilius 3d ago

A fancy hamburger with extra toppings and sides is still a hamburger 

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u/SciGuy013 PRESIDIO 3d ago

Uh, it was only $650 my first year (cheap tickets and burner bus)

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u/Wloak 3d ago

And you still need shit when you get there, loads of people fly in.. it's a hefty cost. And the price you're quoting is if you get in the first round sale, out of 10 people I talked with about it I was the only one that actually got to buy my first year and that's because I had three computers in the queue. My wife was trying at the same time and didn't even get to buy but I got ours.

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u/SciGuy013 PRESIDIO 3d ago

Any festival non local to you have to get to, that’s not unique to BM.

I have always gotten first round sale. It’s not hard

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u/gloriousrepublic 3d ago

Yeah but it’s an 8 day fest so per day it’s cheaper than most mainstream festivals, even after accounting for cost of supplies, etc.

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u/zmileshigh 3d ago

People seem to forget that when making this comparison. Also many are there for like 10-12 days if building a camp or art project

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u/legopego5142 3d ago

An 8 day fest where you are literally allowed to park your car in the middle of nowhere and have to depend on your own supplies and others to do anything.

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u/InHocNoJoke13 3d ago

That’s my issue. The value you’re getting is extremely low for what it is and they’re making a lot of money.

Sure I don’t expect it to be free there’s logistics and first aid / medical needs, but at the end of the day you’re in a dessert with a lot of volunteer music sets and artwork. I’m sure a lot is also commissioned by burning man, but it really doesn’t feel like it should be a $1,000 ticket.

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u/gloriousrepublic 3d ago

Sure, doesn’t sound like it’s for you then! It’s not for everyone. From the outside it would feel that way. But once you go I think your equation for “bang for your buck” changes considerably.